Author Topic: Kings Owner Proposes Idea of Playing 4-on-5 Defense to Allow for a Cherry-Picker  (Read 9119 times)

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Offline D.o.s.

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Vivek's been lurking outside my pickup games, I think.
At least a goldfish with a Lincoln Log on its back goin' across your floor to your sock drawer has a miraculous connotation to it.

Offline BballTim

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I can't imagine it'd work against a good NBA team that moves the ball. A wide open 3 or dunk should result, and if the floor is balanced even the "cherry pick" should be contested.

I guess it might work if you can funnel the ball to a non-shooter like Wallace or a Center on the perimeter somehow.

  You'd have to think that playing 4v4 would help the offense more than the defense because there's more open space on the floor and less people to play help defense. If the team playing "regular" either left someone back on defense ormaybe  just had the deepest guard sprint back when his team shoots it would make any pass on to the cherry picker more difficult and more likely to result in a turnover. I wouldn't expect great results from the experiment.

Offline sofutomygaha

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I love that that guy is in the league. I don't think it will work, but I DEFINITELY want to see a pro basketball team try out some crazy new stuff.

Question- what is the composition of the ideal 4-man defense? They'd have to either sag off of the 3-point line or they'd have to trap really, really aggressively. Do you just want four athletic combo forwards (Josh Smith types) and count on length to challenge outside shots? 

Follow-up question - what is the ideal cherry-picker? Does the cherry picker play press until the other teams gets to half court?

Another follow-up question - What's the ideal counter-strategy? Four Jimmer Fredettes and an offensive rebounder?

Offline D.o.s.

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.
At least a goldfish with a Lincoln Log on its back goin' across your floor to your sock drawer has a miraculous connotation to it.

Offline BballTim

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.

  Yes, you'd have to expect that having the coach draw up the plays would suffice.

Offline sofutomygaha

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.

  Yes, you'd have to expect that having the coach draw up the plays would suffice.

LOL. Well he did coach an extremely successful middle school girls team.

Offline Fafnir

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.

  Yes, you'd have to expect that having the coach draw up the plays would suffice.

LOL. Well he did coach an extremely successful middle school girls team.
By running "innovative" tactics that were commonly used 20 years ago by my wife's Kansas youth basketball team.

The glowing profiles on his innovations made me laugh, its good that he successfully coached a youth team, but what he was doing wasn't anything new. But the New Yorker wanted to make a smart rich guy look good, so the article was framed that way.

Offline fairweatherfan

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Seems like it could only work as kinda the basketball equivalent of the fake spike play - done very, very selectively when the other team doesn't expect it.  Not practical in any kind of broader sense; even if you can somehow keep the offense from getting an easy shot, they'll have a player sprinting back to cover the picker the second the shot goes up.

Offline footey

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If a team started to do that, the opposing team wold just have to send a guy to guard him  and end up playing 4 on 4.

I also could see the league getting involved and making it so that all players had to be over half court by the 12 second mark on the shot clock. And couldn't leave until a shot went up.

Well that would be the point. Easier to score 4 on 4. 

I see nothing wrong with this experimentation. Good for him.

Offline sofutomygaha

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.

  Yes, you'd have to expect that having the coach draw up the plays would suffice.

LOL. Well he did coach an extremely successful middle school girls team.
By running "innovative" tactics that were commonly used 20 years ago by my wife's Kansas youth basketball team.

The glowing profiles on his innovations made me laugh, its good that he successfully coached a youth team, but what he was doing wasn't anything new. But the New Yorker wanted to make a smart rich guy look good, so the article was framed that way.

Don't misunderstand my position on this, though. The Sacramento Kings are a completely disposable and irrelevant team. I would be delighted to see them try all kinds of junk that I never see in NBA games if only because it would be more interesting than them being just another bad basketball team. I say this as a long-since-resigned Redskins fan who thoroughly enjoyed Jim Zorn's infamous fascination with the swinging gate.

Offline Fafnir

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If a team started to do that, the opposing team wold just have to send a guy to guard him  and end up playing 4 on 4.

I also could see the league getting involved and making it so that all players had to be over half court by the 12 second mark on the shot clock. And couldn't leave until a shot went up.

Well that would be the point. Easier to score 4 on 4. 

I see nothing wrong with this experimentation. Good for him.
I don't think you thought his point through, it'd be 4 on 4 only for the Kings on defense. When the Kings played offense they'd still have 5 players on O as the opposition would have 5 on D.

Offline Eja117

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I hate cherry picking but it is within the rules and has its place

Offline loco_91

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Very easy to plan against, but it could work for a play or two at the end of the game. If the other team moves the ball they will score very reliably against a 4-man D, and then one person sprints back while everyone else does a full-court press to prevent the quick outlet.

Offline knuckleballer

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The ideal counter-strategy would be to have an owner that doesn't meddle in basketball operations, I would think.

  Yes, you'd have to expect that having the coach draw up the plays would suffice.

Yeah, I much prefer Wyc who stays out of the way and lets Ainge and Stevens run things.

I know Vivek is a smart guy, but I don't think he knows basketball that well.  This idea he has is a little childish, but at least it's funny.

Offline guava_wrench

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If a team started to do that, the opposing team wold just have to send a guy to guard him  and end up playing 4 on 4.

I also could see the league getting involved and making it so that all players had to be over half court by the 12 second mark on the shot clock. And couldn't leave until a shot went up.
4 on 4 is a major advantage to the offense. Crowding the court is advantage defense.